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Have panic disorder, but think I may have depression as well...

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Posted 9/13/2013 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
I usually post on the anxiety/panic forum, but I wanted to post here in the depression forum and ask your opinion(s).

I take Effexor XR 150 mg in the am, Klonopin .5 mg 3x day and Trazodone 100 mg at night to help me sleep. My panic attacks have improved, but my anxiety is starting to come back and I am feeling pretty down, have been for about 2 weeks now.

I have had Panic Disorder since I was 19 and I am 36 now. I took Paxil for a few years when I was first diagnosed, then Effexor XR for a few years, Celexa for maybe a year, then back to Effexor. This past April I was in the hospital for a week and my PCP took me off of all my anxiety meds cold turkey and I was off of them for almost 2 months. So even though I am back on the Effexor, have been since June, I am wondering if maybe the Effexor was enough to take most of the anxiety edge away, but maybe it isn't working like it should for me anymore?

I am going to call my Dr. tomorrow and see what she says and I have a therapy appt next Tuesday, but I needed to kind of vent and see what yinz have to say?

Another question I have is has anyone taken Effexor and had success with another SSRI? I tried Cymbalta in the past and it made me feel AWFUL!

If anyone has any input, I would love to hear from you.

Thanks in advance.
Posted 9/13/2013 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi there,

I was on 375mg of Effexor for many years. I switched to pristiq a couple of years ago and it works well for me. The Effexor has gone generic. Which did you use? The brand name or the generic? I really like the prisiq, but it only comes in 50 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg. The 150 is as high as you could go on it. I was on the max dose (I was told anyway) of Effexor. The doc mainly switched me because it was going generic. I don't know if the generic is as good as the regular. That is why I was curious as to what you were taking.

I do really like the pristiq. I also take abilify (which is a mood stabilizer and bipolar medication) along with the pristiq. It helps antidepressants work better. It really is a good combination for me. I don't think that the pristiq is as hard as Effexor and Cymbalta to come off of either, or maybe I am just hoping. But it has worked well for me.

That is the only similar antidepressant that I know of. And it is fairly new. Not real new, but somewhat. I hope you find something that works for you. You may just need an increase in the Effexor. That happens sometimes. Or that abilify added. But there are a couple of options for you. The pristiq is still a brand medication, so it may be more expensive, I am not sure. I have to pay more for mine with the insurance. But that is better than paying the full price...

I hope that you feel better soon. I am glad you are seeing your therapist and your doctor soon so you can make some needed adjustments in medication so that you will feel better.

Take care...

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 9/13/2013 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
sylk,

so sorry cymbalta does not work for you, great drug of choose for many of us, including me.

There are so many I can not list them all here. We all have to go through the the trial and era process with theses drugg usfortunately .

Peace and calm.
Trina
Posted 9/13/2013 10:38 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your replies, Karen and Trina. Up until this past April, I was doing great, no anxiety, no depression, no nothing except for being myself and living life. Now, I feel like my life is being robbed from me again...17 years and haven't a bump this BIG ever...sigh...I guess I keep thinking back to how I used to feel and then feel sorry for myself...
Posted 9/14/2013 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
Think back to how you use to feel and try to get that feeling again. It is hard with depression. Up and down. How much vitamin D3 do you take? I take 5000 iu a day. I find it helps me more. I was low in it. And the doctor gave me a boost of it. So I started taking more to feel better. I use to take only 1000 iu of it a day but increased it and it helped my mood. You might want to get that checked. We are getting shorter days now.

I hope that you feel better soon.

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 9/14/2013 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
I finished taking vitamin D3 50,000 units once a week for 8 weeks a few weeks ago because my levels were very low. My Dr now has me taking 2,000 units every day. I just started taking the 2,000 units this past week though and I had finished my 50,000 units about 3 weeks ago. I didn't realize that Vitamin D3 could help with mood improvement! I am going to make sure that I don't forget to take it everyday, and hopefully it will help with my anxiety and depression. Thank you, Karen for asking about that.
Posted 9/14/2013 6:50 PM (GMT 0)
That is pretty much what I did, but I went up on the D3 after that because I was taking 2000iu and was still low. I notice if I forget it, so I started putting it right in my pill box.

Learn meditation if you can. It is something we can do to relax ourselves. And mindfulness helps a lot. Kind of things that you do so hopefully you don't have to do a med adjustment or anything like that. I have been meditating for many years. I got a little booklet when I was young and always did it. It helps me fall asleep. And it helps me get centered when my moods get funny. Mindfulness is so helpful. In the depression resources (first thread on this forum) there is a link to mindful.org, I think it is called and some other links to helpful places. Feel free to check it out whenever you want. You might find something there to help you feel better. Actually you sound better today. I hope you feel better too.

Take care and keep posting, the weekends are kind of slow here and the weekdays get busy. But there is usually somebody around through out the day.

Have a good day...

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 9/14/2013 7:12 PM (GMT 0)
Karen,

Eh, I'm feeling so-so today. Cleaned up my kitchen and going to do a load of laundry and clean up my bedroom. I am definitely going to check out the resources later on when my little guy, (he's in Kindergarten) gets off of jumpstart.com! Lol. Some things are easier done on the computer as opposed to doing them on my phone!

Thank you again, Karen, I hope you are having a great day!

Amy
Posted 9/14/2013 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Amy!!!

Keep posting when you can. I think it is cool that you have a little one in Kindergarten... Make sure you keep us up to date on him and how he is doing. It would be like a ray of sunshine for us...

Hugs, Karen...
Posted 9/14/2013 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
I will definitely keep you up to date on my little man! He had open house the other night and his teacher absolutely raved about him, told me she had to move him to another table because she wants him to show the others at that table how to listen and behave! Melted my heart!!! One of his pre school teachers is a teachers aid there and she pulled me aside and told me that the other teachers even know how compassionate and well behaved he is! So, I guess I am doing something right!!! He is my world!

Sorry that turned into a long post!!

Amy
Posted 9/14/2013 9:51 PM (GMT 0)
Oh Amy,

I would be so proud if I were you!!! That is awesome. It just melts my heart to read about your little guy. You are so fortunate, and yes, you sound like you are doing everything right. Only if all kids were that well mannered and listened. lol...

I hope you have a good evening. Don't worry about long posts, and yours wasn't that long actually. But do keep posting because it does help to get things down.

Take care sweetie...

Hugs, Karen
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